Links to read - December 31, 2019

The most important link today is at the Grayzone and is by the impresario, Max Blumenthal.  DC's Atlantic Council raked in funding from Hunter Biden's corruption-stained employer while courting his VP father.  Yeah, Trump is no prize and he should be impeached for what Bush and Obama should  have been impeached for, a murderous foreign policy.

But, the Bidens both deserve to be investigated, and, in all probability, prosecuted.  A lot of others deserve to go to the wall for the contrived war in Ukraine.

Scott Horton at antiwar.com has some history of how we got to where we are today and it ain't pretty. Read It doesn't have to be this way.

Over at Colonel Pat Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis committee of correspondence, commenter and contributor The Twisted Genius (or TTG as abbreviated) has a posting, Idlib Battle Footage.  You can watch the war, but the more important aspect of the posting is in the comments where TTG answers questions.

Example:

"Those "jihadists" seem even better equiped that the SAA...at least at uniforms level...
(the commenter) wonders where all those new uniforms with the IS and HTS banners embroidened are produced....
On the other hand, to built such a network of trenches, tunnels, and bunkers, in that size and durability, provided even with electric light, is it not necessary to have knowledge of some engineering branches?
It does not seem possible to have them by some radicalized thugs at a mosque anywhere, but by a well funded, organized and trainned army...."

TTG's reply:

"those jihadists are well funded, organized and trained. Years at war does that to you. They also receive plenty of support from Gulf royals and Turkey. We and our allies have provided them with modern antitank and antiaircraft missiles. I wish they were just angry and frustrated men in a mosque. Unfortunately, many are quite intelligent and capable soldiers."

This is, as the late Larry Glick put it, "The story behind the story."  You won't get it from the Imperial Media.  The US' culpability can not be exposed enough.

Links - Monday, December 2, 2019

Over at Spectator USA, Peter Hitchens calls out Bellingcat as well he should.

If you hate yourself, you may be paying rapt attention to the mostly vapid Democrat debates (so-called).  Only one candidate has been seriously addressing foreign policy and the knife are out.

William J. Astore on the Smearing of Tulsi Gabbard over at the antiwar.com blog is worth a read.

Back in 2011-12 Maj. Danny Sjursen was fishing the absurd Afghan war and had absurd experiences.  He is an engaging writer and the war is still absurd.  Profiles in Absurdity: Remembering the ‘Terror’ Wars also at antiwar.com.

John Pilger: The Lies About Assange Must Stop Now over at 21st Century Wire.  We need to stop trying to extradite Julian, immunize him and have him testify before congress.  Nah, the elite would rather gargle razor blades.

Schiff claims to be valiantly protecting the whistleblower.  He's full of it.  Colonel Lang has the goods: The Intelligence Whistleblower protection Act did not apply to the phone call ... Reposted

Enough for today.  Read well, Bring the boys (and girls) home.

Links - Saturday, November 30, 2019

Hysteria is as American as apple pie - Colonel Pat Lang goes over some past panics to put our current  climate obsession in perspective: If you believe that climate change will kill us all...

As someone not completely opposed to the peasantry storming the castles,  class warfare is of some interest.  Class war does not always go the way one would expect.  Over at American Affairs the editor, Julius Krein, looks at the subject of the tiny top class and the managers as The Real Class War.

The current presidential campaign has a lot of Dems who all kinda sound alike on the so-called debate stage except one.  She might sound like the rest if it were not for what they seem to be ignoring.  Doug Bandow at AmConMag gives us Tulsi Gabbard: Wake Up and Smell Our $6.4 Trillion Wars.

When President Obama introduced John Brennan to the public, I thought him a goofy guy.  Brennan seems even goofier now.  Scott Horton talking with Aaron Maté who has done a deep dive on the Dangerous Precedent of ‘Russiagate’


Did anyone expect anything different from the Imperial Media? From Caitlin Johnstone: Surprise! MSM Spins OPCW Leak As Russian Disinfo

Links - Tuesday November 26, 2019

Stuff to read or watch:

On Asron Maté's Grayzone Pushback show, Professor Stephen Cohen explains how Ukrainegate impeachment saga worsens US-Russia Cold War.  This has been out there awhile, but is worth watching.

Ron Paul's weekly column:

The Real Bombshell of the Impeachment Hearings is about the deep state (like we don't it exists by now) and how it does not want to let go of its bad foreign policy.  ht Antiwar.com.

In the National Interest Professor Lyle J. Goldstein writes"

The War in Ukraine Must End 

Washington should seek a grand bargain with Moscow over Crimea.

The article is good the deal is suggests is reasonable, however as a neutralist we believe the US should just leave and let the two parties solve their problems by themselves.

ht ACEWA

If you bring up Joe Biden and his kid the mantra is "debunked."  That is, of course, ridiculous on the face of it, or why doesn't your kid get an easy money board of directors spot?

Anyway, Colonel Pat Lang does a good job debunking the debunking of Joe and kid at his Sic Semper Tyrannis Committee of Correspondence.

When you make enemies you can't just expect them to lie down-The Sino-Russian Alliance at work

Colonel Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis has posted an article:

"China-Russia air patrol shows Japan and South Korea in disarray"  by Frank Ching in ejininsight.com.

Our East Asian allies were spooked by what the two countries working together can do.

According to Colonel Lang:

"This is a really bad thing and IMO it is altogether the result of the hyper-aggressiveness displayed by the US toward Russia since the fall of the USSR.  We had the option then of offering a welcoming hand to Russia as it emerged from the nightmare of communist rule, but we did not extend such a hand.  Instead, our civilian and military policy elites insisted that Russia was necessarily an enemy for the US and was still the communist USSR in disguise.

We (the US) drove the eastern boundary of NATO absurdly far into Russia's "comfort zone," and actively recruited the former member countries of the Warsaw Pact into NATO.  We have also recruited many former Union Republics of the USSR into a specifically ant-Russian military alliance.

We are now surprised that a weakened Russia, spurned by us, makes common cause with China?  What else were the Russians supposed to do?  Fall on their knees before us and beg our pardon for existing?

Neocon folly and a lack of any sort of policy thoughtfulness have brought us to this.."

 We agree with Colonel Lang, but go further.  This is why a neutralist ethos is necessary.  When the smartest guys get together, they overthink.  Actually, they are probably not all that smart.

In the comments, Patrick Armstrong has observes: "I am starting to think that Russia/China were reacting for a long time; now I suspect they have started acting, Given that they completely outwitted the West's assemblage of giant minds in their reaction period, we can look for lots and lots of surprises to come."

Fasten your seatbelts.

Mish Shedlock of Global Economic Trend Analysis and Patrick Armstrong of Russia Observer Display Common Sense-Nobody Will Notice

First, let's go with Mish.  You've seen all the ads, signs, bumper stickers telling us to support our troops.  Sometimes it will be accompanied with something saying that they are keeping us safe.  No one explains how some GI in an Afghan outpost is keeping us safe, but there it is.

Well Mish noticed:

This last weekend I saw a biker wearing a "support our troops" shirt. OK, what's the best way?
I know the answer. Do you?
The best way to "support the troops" is to not send them into stupid battles in places we ought not to be in the first place.
The War in Afghanistan is going on over 15 years. Yes, 15 years. WTF? For what?

The Neutralist has been asking the same question since 2008 on blogger.  No one cares to answer so it is good to see Mish make the point.

Now on to Patrick Armstrong.  In comments on Colonel Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis  Mr. Armstrong replied to a comment:

Seriously, what vital national interest of the USA qua USA is threatened if Russia has a big influence in Syria? Or if Iran is a big player in its corner of the world? Or if Venezuela has a somewhat socialist government? Or if China polices trade going in and out of China in the South China Sea? Etc etc.

Hypothetically, we bring all the troops home.  What happens?  Does anyone believe that Russia starts the tanks rolling west until they are in Portugal?  Does anyone think China will build an invasion fleet?  Iran does something horrible?  Will Venezuela start running an efficeint non-kleptocracy?

The Neutralist, waiting for an answer since 2008.  Actually, since the Carter administration. 

U.S. Provides Assad's Forces the Equipment for a Whole Armored Brigade

Shocking news.  We have been told for a long time how the Syrian leader is the most evil man since Hitler.  Okay, we are told that about everyone, but he is less than a nice guy with that genocidal war in Yemen.  Oh, one forgets, that is being waged by our ally, the saintly Saudis.

Anyway, we did not plan on arming the Syrians, it just kind of happened...stupidly.

From a post at Sic Semper Tyrannis,

The FSA unicorms have surrendered enough equipment to the SAA in the last couple of weeks to equip an additional armored brigade once the Syrian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SEME - my neologism) and their Rooshians work it over.  Hey! We Americans under Obama's policy paid for all that.  At last someone will know what to do with it.  

Well Done!  Arming the FSA (Free Syrian Army) was always a joke.

Like all our post 1945 interventions, Syria is not working out well.  for us, it is a zombie war.  We have no reason to be there, but we shall stay anyway.

Bring the boys and girls home.

Not even close, but certainly no Sigar-The latest lessons learned from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction is out

As mentioned in the title, The latest lessons learned from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR)  is out.  In the introduction there is a paragraph that says it all:

Our analysis reveals the U.S. government greatly overestimated its ability to build and reform government institutions in Afghanistan as part of its stabilization strategy. We found the stabilization strategy and the programs used to achieve it were not properly tailored to the Afghan context, and successes in stabilizing Afghan districts rarely lasted longer than the physical presence of coalition troops and civilians. As a result, by the time all prioritized districts had transitioned from coalition to Afghan control in 2014, the services and protection provided by Afghan forces and civil servants often could not compete with a resurgent Taliban as it filled the void in newly vacated territory.

Are there really any lessons learned?  I am guessing there are, but they can't be said or the the truth teller will be shown the door.  The truth is  there are three alternatives:

1. Continue leaving a garrison and pretend we are doing something.  That is what we are doing now.

2. Another surge with enough troops to destroy all our enemies.  That is probably impossible politically and economically.

3.  Time to say au revoir.  This is the only practical choice, but if we leave, why stay in the Middle East at all?  It's a debate we are avoiding.

Academic Thomas Nichols has written a book, The Death of Expertise.  In it he avers that the expert class, like Rodney, don't get no respect and that it should.  On Page 195 of the SIGAR report  there is a picture of what one would guess is the important people on the team and other government officers with the President Obama around a conference table.  They all look prosperous. These people and other staffers work hard to study what is going on and what must be done.  If they know the score, that nothing real can be done, and they are just saying only what is acceptable, it is an indictment of the Nichols' expertise class.  The Dangerfield Class of  experts only comes up with what has already been decided.

There are recommendations in the report, but no one expects that we will reach the broad sunlit uplands even if we follow them to the letter.

The Neutralist originally read about SIGAR at Colonel Lang's Sic Semper Tyrannis.  He does not mince words, "This SIGAR report makes it crystal clear that the US lost its "hat, ass and overcoat" in Afghanistan.   We should wise up and go home resolved never, never to listen to the siren song of the COIN fantasy."

The Colonel is right, but you don't get to see him on TV as his is not the desired flavor.

Is a war against Hezbollah brewing?

Lebanese PM Hariri resigned and both Sic Semper Tyrannis and Moon of Alabama are reporting that a possible Saudi war on Hezbollah might be forthcoming as the Syrian anti-Assad adventure comes a cropper.  Of course, in the end it is the targeting of Iran that is what it is all about.

Colonel sees the attack coming from Israel with the possibility at 50%.  Well that figures.  Even with google maps and a GPS, the Saudis couldn't find their way to Lebanon to save their lives.

The Neutralist is not sure where the U.S. figures in all this, but it is doubtful anything would happen without our government knowing about.

It does seem, though,  a harebrained scheme, which is about what one would expect.

The Neutralist must note again, that the U.S. need not be a part of any of this.  Yeah, we know that there is oil, but it not worth the bones of any American G.I.

Sing it Freda, Bring the Boys Home!

Update: Saudi Crown Prince has arrested just about his whole family.  How this all ties in is also discussed by SST and MOA.

In light of all that, we are seeing the chances of an attack at less than 50%.  There is a possibility the Israelis see everyone else distracted and no time like the present, but other than an air strike here and there, they have not been all that adventurous since the last Lebanese incursion.

All News is Propaganda - BBC Lyse Doucet edition

Driving on errands during the week, the BBC correspondent was talking about the horrible starvation happening in a Syrian town held by rebels and under siege by government forces.  There was some mention that there were towns occupied by Assad's men.

the reporter, Lyse Doucet, oozed concern.  It truly sounded as if an event was occurring that would make Pol Pot blush.

Who could ever think that such a kindly and caring voice was having us on?

I may be wrong as my ride ended soon enough, but my ragtime meter was straining to go to 11.

Sure enough, there was a lot of exposure of the false narrative.  The ever reliable Colonel Lang was on the case,

Now we have the interesting case of Madaya, a rebel controlled town on the Syria/Lebanon border up on the Anti-Lebanon mountain. 

In this piece the author demonstrates that the images being spread across the world by the Western media are demonstrably false.

Particularly annoying are the photos of a pretty little girl claimed to be starving in Madaya.  this girl has now revealed on the internet that she is happily living with her family in south Lebanon.

See the article he references here.

If an article appears on Big News, be suspicious, be very suspicious.

Sic Semper Tyrannis, the two Paddies write well about the Middle East

Sic Semper Tyrannis is one of the best sites about intel and foreign policy on the internet.  It may be the best, but as I have not been elevated to the papacy, it might be correct to not speak infallibly.

Patrick Bahzad's FOCUS: modus operandi of ISIS on the tactical level explains much about the success of the forces of the neo-caliphate.  Our takeaway from his post is that whoever is running ISIS, mama didn't raise no fool.  To quote,

One of the most important things to stress about ISIS is that this is an organisation that has learnt to fight and survive – despite heavy losses – in an environment where they were totally outmatched technologically and under the constant threat of US air-power. The other decisive aspect to their military capabilities is the input of former military and intelligence personnel from the Saddam era.

In its early days, "Al Qaeda in Iraq" lacked the military, logistical and organisational skills of the former Iraqi military and it had a hard time surviving the US led "Surge". However, what was left of AQI in 2009 had merged with the ex-Baathist element and had gradually morphed into a structure that had learnt its lessons the hard way. Renamed "Islamic State in Iraq", it was led by a group of people skilled enough to seize any chance to expand and consolidate their organisation.

I remember from back in the day Hannity or someone local waxing poetic about how they had an election and democracy had taken root or something.  Well, Sunni Iraq lives and even if we come back with a few divisions, they will probably go to ground and wait us out and Monsieur Bahzad can write this column again.

Of course, we are not probably going back with a huge footprint.  That is what the other Pat dealt with in TheBorg is Screwing the Pooch in the ME.  At the beginning of the post is the painting of a crusader knight fending off besiegers, but not for long.    Colonel Lang draws the not so subtle analogy that we are not serious about our ME strategy and uses the words of General Dempsey to make the point.

He notes the general says we'll fight on even if the government falls from the network of hedgehogs.  

When pressed Dempsey said that if the Iraq government collapses we (the US Armed Forces) will fight on from our "network" of Hedgehogs assisting whoever wants help and without regard to the wishes of "the government."

Col. Lang mentions Dien Bien Phu and maybe we are in danger of that outcome.  Were I a Sunni or even a Shia, I would not believe or support anything the US did there.  I remember how we supported a revolt during Gulf War Uno and then left the people dangling.  The Colonel has mentioned the Awakening several times.  We are not all that trustworthy.

Good luck with those lilypads.

Lest we forget

Memorial Day is over and all the speeches done by chickenhawk politicians are done and songs by non-serving cw singers have been sung, the reality is sadly with us.  Our wars overseas are doing nothing to preserve our freedoms.

The best commentary about the day was, not surprisingly, done by Col. Lang.  The Neutralist urges everyone to read it.

Don't think all the King's horse's and all the King's men are going to be able to put Yemen back together again

This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out [the Islamic State] wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.

Little more than a half a year ago, the president claimed success, if not victory for the policy above. The Neutralist need not be mean in pointing out this, like almost all of the policies of the current and prior administrations, has come a cropper.

There is no lack of outlets who have talking heads and scribblers discussing the great disaster that is the rise of the Houthis.  After all, we now can't run that vastly successful, game changing drone war.

None of the pundits is suggesting we say au revoir and bring it all home to pursue a neutralist foreign policy.

As usual, the best commentary is over at Sic Semper Tyrannis.  Col. Lang and his Committee of Correspondence are discussing the question at length.

In a departure from the demonization, Col. Lang has opined,

IMO the Houthis are the natural allies of the United States in the world wide war against Sunni jihadism.  The United States seems blind to that, blinded by its own delusions concerning the "evolution" of history and the dust thrown in US eyes by the Saudis who fear all things Yemeni.

If the Neutralist stopped being the Neutralist and were elected Commander of the Unfaithful (i.e. POTUS) and wanted to pursue a workable policy, he would appoint Col. Lang to run it.  Alas, it would be just a moment, not matter how effective and he and the Col. would be gone in the blink of an eye.

I truly wish a man as wise as the Colonel and his associates would give over and support neutralism.  Anything else is at best an interlude on the road to a bad end.

Another reason for a neutralist foreign policy

So Hagel is out.  The indispensable Col. Lang at Sic Semper Tyrannis has a post up about it.  It does give a break down of how things are going.

The Neutralist, however, took the part that serves our purpose.  To quote the Colonel,

The armed forces are being asked to assume larger and larger missions in the Middle East, Afghanistan and West Africa.  At the same time the money needed to maintain DoD operations and perform such functions as Strategic Triad modernization has largely disappeared in the welter of sequestration and general reductions in budget. Understandably the generals and admirals are pushing back and the constitutional way for them to do that is through the civilian head of the Department of Defense.The back pressure was probably displayed last week in a loosening of ROE in Afghanistan.

In our broke republic, there are always going to be budget fights, but sooner or later we have to face reality.  Our overseas adventures never really return anything good to the citizenry.  They may make a buck for the profiteer, but that is it in every empire that ever was.

Bring everyone home.

Syria, beyond the beyond!!!!

I have no way of describing what is happening now as we hurtle to a war for no reason.

Except,

there has to be a reason.  The Saudis and Qataris, the Israelis, whatever.  Whomever is getting something it ain't the American people. There is absolutely no reason any American should want to be involved in Syria.

It should be self-evident that interventionism has reached its reductio ad absurdam long ago.  chem weapons, WMDs, Kuwaiti incubators, War to end all wars, Remember the Maine.

The Neutralist is slightly encouraged by the fact that polls show the the citizenry are not buying it.  On the other hand, the administration is completely disregarding popular opinion in the matter.  At least Bush sent Powell to fib to the UN.

Anyway, it's sad and discouraging, but expected.  The Neutralist has links that my few readers probably know about.

Anatoly Karlin is Russian, so one supposes that makes him suspect in some circles.  Then again, there are some of my countermen who would abandon the idea that 1+1=2 if it could be shown the devil himself believed in it.  I am passing on something he passed on as it does not sound unreasonable.  That does not mean I absolutely believe it, but Mr. Mercouris might not have less credibility than John Kerry.

If you aren't already reading Col. Lang at Sic Semper Tyrannis, you should be.  Let me give you a taste:

Kerry informed the world that he and the president were absolutely sure that the Syrian government had used CW en masse against people in the Damascus suburbs.Evidence?  He said that he had seen the videos and pictures on the internet and that they tore open the wounds of his heart once again.  That was all the evidence that he mentioned except to claim that the US Government has more information that it will make available at some future time. 

So, it has been decided.  If I were more aggressive and had more readers, I would run a contest, what will be our first post Syria aggression.

It is time to just give Afghanistan to the Taliban unless we can find somebody else stupid enough to take it

Colonel Lang reports that Afghanistan customs is dunning us for the vehicles we brought into the country to keep them in power.  Maybe there was an age old and respected statute we are violating and we should be paying up.  Whatever it is, however, it should be offset by our saving the skins of the corrupt members of the government apparatus.

What is happening was characterized thus by the Colonel,

This is a standard "shake down" technique practised across the region from Morocco to Bangla Desh.  It is a common thing for governments to try to charge customs duty on everything foreign military forces or aid organizations bring into a country.

Our foreign policy of military intervention and aid is viewed by the recipients as a cow to milk.  It will always be thus and is a compelling argument for a Neutralist foreign policy.

The Colonel also writes,

The fact that this is "coming to a head" in Afghanistan is an indication that the flow of cash money is drying up.

So there is an end, at least partial coming and some are trying to suck the cow dry beforehand.  I suspect when we go the Taliban will have a run at it.  I don't want the Afghan kleptocrats finding asylum here.  I don't care if they spend their declining years in Dubai and am not wanting to see them najibullahed.  I just don't want them over here pontificating on my countries mistakes.

Original article at the Washington Post.

Margolis vs. Lang on Egypt plus a better analysis

Two of my favorite writers on the web differ in their view of the current affairs in Egypt.  Eric Margolis  thinks the coup was planned by a deep state and the the MBs were fair and moderate.

Not sure how Col. Lang view the deep state biz, but he does not find the MBs to be completely savory.

Now these are two men who do not buy the official interpretation of events, but they differ in analysis.  Of course we come to the conclusion that the unfathomable aspect of events is even more reason to be a Neutralist.

Another article we are linking to is Egypt's Possible Civil War by 28 Sherman.  Opens up by observing the hunger aspect, which is not mentioned enough.  Egypt does not produce enough food for its population that vastly exceeds carrying capacity.  Thanks to all the unrest, the money is not being made to buy food.  Of course, guess who supplies a lot of the food?

Food and civil war, hmmm.  I vaguely remember reading that Rwanda was the most densely populated region on the continent and had hunger problems. 

 Maybe giving all that food on the cheap did not help the Egyptians plan for population control.

28 Sherman touches on the regional political situation regarding Egypt, Sudan and Ethipia.  As to managing it he writes, "The British did this so much better than us."  Yeah, well HMG don't have too many colonies these days.  There empire was a waste of time.  More reason for a neutralist FP.

The Nature of our Army

Maybe it is not such a good idea to enlist people to fight for a cause rather than each other or "the regiment."  Disillusionment comes eventually to those who have illusions about causes.

The words of Colonel Pat Lang, of Sic Semper Tyrannis went off like a bombshell when I read them.  He had posted about Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the NCO who killed 16 Afghan civilians.

His insight is both correct and disturbing.  Bales was ten years younger upon enlistment.  Maybe he just needed a job, but as it was just after 911 so patriotic fervor might have been at work.  Ten years later, the men who came in to right the nations wrongs have to be disillusioned.  One would guess that to have stayed so long, he would have transferred his feelings for the country to his comrades, but who knows?  Analyzing the soldier is not the purpose here.

What needs to be looked at is the nature of our force and do we want a military of patriots or mercenaries?  Our army is a mixed force.  Some do join do for love of country.  Others, because some opportunity exists.  the patriot may end up a time server or the mercenary, a devoted soldier.  the truth is, the long serving man will leave if the pay benefits are not adequate.  Get rid of the pension and put a 401k in place and see the rush for the exits.

Gibbon is often mentioning the “donatives” necessary to keep the army compliant.  the Neutralist has always thought that the semi-mercenary nature of our armed forces would be a contradiction that could not be resolved.  An imperial forces, all over the globe will have to be completely mercenary even if the patriotic fig leaf persists for a while.  You don’t really want zealots for what is just a job.
That is, if we don’t go bankrupt first.

The Neutralist has written before about our belief in the best force structure.  In the current political climate, it cannot happen.  We will never see a hair out of place on one of the Romney boys.

What was that all about? Libya at war's end?

Naturally, a country swimming on light crude makes one think the overthrow might have been about securing some cheap gas, not for us lumpen slugs, but maybe for an oil company or four. The Neutralist sure doesn't know, just lets his inner paranoiac out. This guy has an idea it might have been Mo suggesting al alternative monetary system. Again, we don't know. Maybe such interpretations are whacko, but no more than the belief it was peace,freedom and goodness led NATO and us into support of the noble Libyans.

Speaking of the noble Libyan opposition, This has been hard to miss:



You may not have seen it with one of our grande dame:



What a barbarian.

With a fair trial, Mo could have been sentenced to death. It is a sad commentary that his demise means the world is no better or worse.

See Eric for alternate take on Brother-Leader.

Col. Patrick Lang has an interesting and useful website called Sic Semper Tyrannis. He was early on calling for intervention. I do not think he came out of this looking at all well. Back on the 25th of February he wrote, "As a "card carrying" non-interventionist (isolationist maybe?), I think that I have the "street cred" to call for intervention in Libya." This of course is like the people I met in a previous incarnation who would say, "I never took a dime from the government," to justify a little feeding at the trough. He may disagree, but I thought him gung ho and blithe. Anyway,he should give up his card.

That was then. Maintenant is another story. Last Friday, he wrote, "How did he die? Who cares? IMO the "Gs" killed him after they got through kicking him around. They are not soldiers. They are undisciplined civilian enthusiasts with a smidgin of training. If MQ had died in an ambush or as the "Gs" shot their way into his hideout a lot of you would think nothing of it." Hey it happens, he wrote, he was a cheerleader, someone else get the mop. No pottery barn for The Colonel.

Oh well, this wasn't as costly as some of our other interventions. Onto Uganda.

I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks!

Not really/ What I believe in is conspiracy theories. Okay, believe in is a tad strong. When I was a kid, I heard it bandied about that the oil companies had paid to stop an inventor of a pill from marketing it. A teacher spouted this in a junior high class.

Hey, i want to be one of the cool people and dismissing conspiracy theories is the way to do it. Unfortunately, my government makes it hard.

No, there has to be at least some plausibility. Fortunately, your government is giving you stuff you have to question. The Iranian plot is so inane, that you have to ask, is this my country on crack?

So I'm waiting of another WTC7 explanation.

Lesson here kids; you don't have to believe any conspiracy theory, but your nuts if you think it ain't possible.